Refrigeration apparatus



P 0, 1945. R; E. TOBEY 2,373,618

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed Nov. 30, 1943 WITNESSES:

, INVENTOR Ramona E, ToaEY. S

n k I 1e, BY ATTOREEY Patented Apr. 10, 1945 tof Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 30', 1943, Serial No. 512,349

6 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigeration apparatus and, more particularly,-to a refrigerator of the t pe which includes a high humidity compartment for storing food stuffs that deteriorate upon dehydration. One example of this type apparatus is disclosed in Ashbaugh Patent No. 2,233,394 of March 4, 1941, 4

One object of my invention is to produce an improved refrigerator of the type set forth.

A further object of my invention is to maintain a lower temperature within the high humidity compartment, better to preserve the more perishable articles of food.

A still further object of my invention is to attain the foregoing objects without the-use of increased refrigerating capacity, without the use of expensive or complicated devices and without materially altering the construction of therefri gerator, its refrigerating mechanism, or the structure of the high humidity compartment itself.

These-and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with" the accompanying drawing, forming a. part of this applicationin which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a refr1gera tor embodying my invention;

compartment includes a top wall 24, a bottom wall 30 and a rear wall 32 which extend across the entire width of the food compartment l2 so that the side wallsof the compartment i 2 constitute the side walls of the high humidity compartment 24. The high humidity compartment 24 is'supported in spaced relation to the bottom 34, back wall 38 and door l4 ofthe food-storage compartment 12 by any suitable means (not shown). I i

In the construction shown, the interior of the high humidity compartment 24 is refrigerated by the cold air in the food-storage compartment i2 coming in contactwith the exterior of the compartment 24. Therefore, articles of food stored. within the compartment 24 do not come into contact with the relatively dry cold air in the foodstorage. compartment i 2 and hence such articles of food retain a large measure of their original Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing a modified form of construction;

4 Fig. 4 is a fragmentary verticalsectional view of the modified construction shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing details of construction.

Referring-to the drawing and more particularly toFigs. 1 and 2, there is shown a refrigerator l0 provided with a foodstorage compartment i2 having an access opening adapted to be closed by a door H. In the food-storage compartment l2 there is provided the usual evaporator 16 which is connected through .usual conduits (not shown) with conventional refrigerating machinery, housed in a machinery compartment l8 for compressing and condensing the refrigerant. ,Below thev evaporator i6 is a slidably mounted meat container' 20 which may be constructed and mounted in position in any well-known manner.

The meat container 20 is provided with a cover 22 which is preferably mounted for sliding movement independently of the container 20.

In the lower portion of the food-storage compartment I2 is a high humidity compartment '24 having a front access opening adapted to be closed by a door or doors 26. The high humidity 'wardly and downwardly moisture content. 1

In order more effectively to cool the interior of the high humidity compartment 24, I have devised a simple and inexpensive means for'accelcrating and improving the convection or circulation of cooled air in the food-storage compartment l2 and around the high humidity compart-' ment 25. According to my invention Lprovide the cover 22 of the meat container 20 with side flanges 38 which extend upwardly to the level of the bottom of the evaporator it or higher if desired. The. flanges 38 with the top wall-o1 the cover 22 thus form a channel or open-ended trough 48 disposed below and extending from the front to the back of the evaporator i8. y

The trough 40 serves to receive and direct the air flowing downwardly along the exterior of the evaporator it. Since the rear portion of the evaporator is farther removed from the door 14 and is, therefore, subjected to lesshoat leakage. it is somewhat colder than the front portion of the evaporator. Therefore. the direction of the flow of cold air in the trough 40 will be rearas illustrated by the arrows42.

' Operation As the air is cooled by the evaporator I, it

moves in the direction of the arrows 62, and flows downwardly along the back wall it of the foodstorage compartment I2 into the space 44 behind and below the high humidity compartment 24. The flow of air behind and below the compartment is shown by the arrows 46. In flowing past the back and bottom of the compartment 24,

the air absorbs some heat and-therefore, becomes lighter than the air flowing downwardly from the rear end of the trough 40. The relatively warmer and lighter air now rises in a substantially deflnite current in the space 48 as indicated by the arrows 50, until it comes in contact with the evaporator it where it is again cooled.

It will thus be seen that by merely providing the cover 22 with the side flanges 38 which can be very simply and inexpensively produced, I cause very cold air to flow directly and at an accelerated rate in contact with the rear, bottom and front of the compartment 24, in addition to the cold air which normally flows downwardly onto the top 28 of the compartment 24.

In Figs. 3 to 5 I show a modified form of construction in which in addition to the side flanges ll, 1 use a partition 52 which extends from a point near and behind the upper portion of the container 20 down to a point near the top of the back wall of the high humidity compartment 24 as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The width of the partition 52' may be varied but in the preferred form illustrated in Fig. 1, the width of the partition 52 is substantially equal to the width of the evaporator I. As will be clearly seen from Fig. 4, a channel 54 is produced between the partition 52 and the adJacent portion of the back wall 36 of the food-storage compartment l2. The cold air flowing out of the rear end of the trough 40, or at least a major portion thereof, now flows in an accelerated stream behind, below and along the front of the high humidity compartment 24 in the,

manner hereinalbove fully explained;

It will be seen from the foregoing that either form of the invention illustrated may readily and inexpensively be incorporated in the structure of refrigerators now in use or to be manufactured in the future, andthat the application of my invention in either of the forms illustrated adds very little to the cost or weight of the refrigerator and does not in any way interfere with the structure or disposition of the various conventional parts of a refrigerator such as that shown.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A refrigerator having a food-storage compartment, an evaporator 1n the upper portion of .said compartment, 9. high humidity compartment positioned in the lower portion of said food-storage compartment in spaced relation to the back, bottom and front walls thereof, whereby an air circulating passage is formed extending along the back, bottom and front of said high humidity compartment, and a trough disposed below, and extending from the front to the rear of, said evaporator, said trough including a bottom wall and upwardly extending side walls, whereby air, cooled by contact with said evaporator, flows downwardly into said trough, and from the rear end of said trough, along the back wall of said food compartment into said circulating passage.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which the side walls of said trough extend upwardly substantially to the level of the bottom of said evaporator. p

3. The structure recited in claim 1 together with a receptacle disposed below, and in spaced relation to said evaporator, and in which said trough is disposed between said receptacle and said evaporator and serves as a cover for said receptacle.

4. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said high humidity compartmentincludes a top wall, a. bottom wall and a back wall extending the entire width of said food-storage compart- -ment whereby portions of the side walls of said food-storage compartment constitute side walls for said high humidity compartment,

5. A refrigerator having a food-storage compartment, an evaporator in the upper portion of said compartment, a high humidity compartment positioned in the lower portion of said food-storage compartment in spaced relation to the back, bottom and front walls thereof, whereby an air circulating passage is formed extending along the back, bottom and front of said high humidity compartment, a trough positioned below and extendingfrom the front to the rear of said evap- 40 rator, said trough including a bottom wall and said partition is of a lesser width than said foodas storage compartment.

RAYMIOND E. TOBEY. 

